Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Institute of Economic Affairs boss tells undercover reporter IEA in ‘Brexit influencing game’

A rightwing thinktank has been offering potential US donors access to government ministers and civil servants as it raises cash for research to support the free-trade deals demanded by hardline Brexiters, according to an investigation.

The director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) was secretly recorded telling an undercover reporter that funders could get to know ministers on first-name terms and that his organisation was in “the Brexit influencing game”.

Mark Littlewood claimed the IEA could make introductions to ministers and said the thinktank’s trade expert knew Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Davis and Liam Fox well.

The IEA chief was also recorded suggesting potential US donors could fund and shape “substantial content” of research commissioned by the thinktank and that its findings would always support the argument for free-trade deals.

This could hugely benefit US farmers by lifting the ban on the sale in the UK of beef from cattle treated with growth hormones and chlorine-washed chicken.

Speaking about what kind of Westminster access the IEA could provide donors with, Littlewood told the investigator: “I have absolutely no problem with people who have business interests, us facilitating those.”

The investigation, undertaken in May and June, also revealed the thinktank had already provided access to a minister for a US organisation.

The disclosures are likely to raise fresh questions about the independence and status of the IEA, which is established as an educational charity. Charity Commission rules state that “an organisation will not be charitable if its purposes are political”.

The investigation also sheds light on the way US business interests seem keen to influence the Brexit debate by bolstering the arguments of hardliners inside the Conservative party who continue to grow in strength.

In lengthy exchanges with the Guardian, the IEA said there was “nothing untoward about thinktanks having a collaborative approach with politicians”, adding that it had “no corporate view” on Brexit.

“It is spurious to suggest that the IEA is engaging in any kind of ‘cash for access’ system,” a spokesman said. “All thinktanks have relationships with government officials and politicians.” He said it had not accepted any cash from US business in relation to its work on trade and Brexit.

Founded in 1955, the IEA describes itself as the UK’s original free market thinktank. In the two years since the EU referendum, it has been a platform for those pushing for a clean-break Brexit.

The footage was gathered by Unearthed, an investigations unit set up by Greenpeace amid concerns about the IEA and whether it was working behind the scenes to use Brexit to lower environmental standards.

The survey reveals:

:: The government is haemorrhaging trust regarding the Brexit negotiations

:: Two-thirds of the public - including a majority of Leave voters - now think the outcome of Brexit negotiations will be bad for Britain

:: A significant increase in the proportion who think Brexit will negatively affect themselves personally, the economy and the country overall

:: Most people would like to see a referendum asking between the deal suggested by the government, no deal, and remaining in the EU.

London threatens retaliation if Brussels refuses to change position on City

UK negotiators have told their counterparts in Brussels that about 7,000 European-based investment funds that rely on British clients for their cash and profits will be hit by regulators unless the EU changes its position on the City of London after Brexit.

As frustration grows within Whitehall at what is seen as a dogmatic position taken by the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, the British side has upped the ante by making an implicit threat to EU interests.

Theresa May will publish scores of documents to prepare businesses and the public for a no-deal Brexit later in the summer – but has denied putting the army on standby.

No 10 rejected a report that soldiers are being lined up to deliver food, medicines and fuel in the event of shortages, insisting: “There are no plans to involve the army in this.”

Downing Street instead revealed around 70 “technical notices” – with advice to companies and consumers if the UK crashes out of the EU with no agreement – would be issued in two sets in August and September.

Canada and the EU have been working on a free trade deal for close to a decade now.